 revealed.){kind=link}
According to official data from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the federal government has borrowed more than Rs. 5.7 trillion from banks.
Specifically, from July 1, 2023, to April 19, 2024, the government borrowed Rs. 5.74 trillion from the local banking sector, marking a significant increase of 103 percent compared to the Rs. 2.8 trillion borrowed during the same period last year.
During the same period, the government repaid a net loan of Rs. 738 billion to the SBP. It’s important to note that the government cannot directly borrow from the central bank due to a mandatory condition of the International Monetary Fund.
In this fiscal year, borrowing from scheduled banks has already exceeded the Rs. 3.6 trillion borrowed in the entire fiscal year 2023. Overall, the net borrowing for budgetary support by the government sector amounted to Rs. 4.83 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2024, compared to Rs. 3.75 trillion in fiscal year 2023.
The federal government’s net borrowing to meet its financial needs for governing the state totaled Rs. 4.5 trillion from July 2023 to April 19, 2024.
The current borrowing has already exceeded the total borrowed by the previous federal government.
Read Also: Chief Minister KP Increases Aid Packages for Laborers on Labor Day
In the meantime, financing from Islamic banks has decreased significantly by 90 percent year-on-year, from Rs. 448 billion in the entire fiscal year 2023 to only Rs. 44 billion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2024.
Islamic banking branches of conventional banks extended credit amounting to Rs. 23.7 billion during the period under review, compared to a negative impact of Rs. 425 billion in the same period last year.